February 17, 2023

Friends,   

I hope you and your family are well! I wanted to provide you with a few updates regarding what’s going on –

Field Hearing on Energy Expansion in Midland, Texas

It was great to be in Midland, Texas on Thursday to chair a field hearing to discuss American energy expansion. Midland is integral for oil and gas production in this country, which is why it’s important to bring Members of Congress here for a “boots on the ground” perspective on how Washington’s policies impact jobs, our economy, and ultimately, your wallet. 

Our Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee Field Hearing focused on American Energy Expansion, and we learned from leaders and experts in oil and gas production. The United States produces oil and gas cleaner and safer than nearly anywhere in the world, and we need policies that reflect this reality instead of ones that undercut our success.

We need to unleash American energy production to expand our energy dominance. I will continue fighting to unleash American energy production every day as Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee Chair! Click HERE and HERE for my remarks during the field hearing. 

It was also great to meet with Pruitt employees who work on oil rigs in the Permian Basin while in Midland yesterday. They play an integral role in domestic energy production!

AmeriGas Tour 

This week, I toured the Easley location of AmeriGas, a propane services company. I learned about the expansion of propane in school buses and industry, and discussed how cleanly propane burns. Propane is a natural gas that is safe, effective, and eco-friendly.

It is essential that we utilize our natural resources to provide reliable energy to Americans, and as Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee Chair, I will continue fighting to utilize our nation’s abundant energy supply. Thanks for having me and for all you do to provide reliable energy for South Carolinians!

Southern Border Crisis

In the first three months of this fiscal year, CBP has seized enough fentanyl coming across the southern border (9,000 lbs.) to kill over 2.1 billion people (over 6.4 times the U.S. population). This is likely only a fraction of the fentanyl surging past the southern border undetected. Last month was the worst January on record in over twenty years for illegal encounters at the southern border. Over 4.6 million illegal border crossings have occurred and over 1.2 million illegal immigrants have evaded apprehension at the southern border under Joe Biden. 

Our southern border is being invaded. That is why I introduced H.R. 776, the BUILD WALL Act (Build up Illegal Line Defenses with Assets Lawfully Lifted Act), to allow the U.S. to use funds taken from drug cartels and human traffickers to be spent building the border wall along our southern border. Any serious effort to secure our southern border and safeguard our national security begins with the completion of the southern border wall.

I introduced six pieces of legislation this Congress aimed at combatting our immigration crisis and more strictly enforcing our laws to protect our national security. Click HERE to read more about my immigration legislation. 

Standing for Life 

In a post-Roe America, the fight for life has just begun. I am a proud cosponsor of over a dozen pieces of pro-life legislation this Congress, including the Protect the UNBORN Act, the Protecting Life from Chemical Abortions Act, and the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2023.

The Protect the UNBORN Act (Undo the Negligent Biden Orders Right Now Act) would prohibit the federal funding and implementation of Joe Biden’s abortion-related executive orders. The Protecting Life from Chemical Abortions Act would prevent the executive branch from declaring an abortion-related public health emergency and reinstate safety regulations for dangerous chemical abortions. The Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2023 would defund Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc. and its affiliates for a year and provide additional funding for community health centers instead.

Over 63 million unborn lives were tragically lost since Roe v. Wade was decided 50 years ago. I will always fight for the rights of the most vulnerable because if we don’t stand for the unborn, who will? I will never waver in my stand for the sanctity of human life.

RUSH WAS RIGHT on the Fairness Doctrine

Cancel culture leftists are threatening to reinstate the Federal Communications Commission’s so-called “Fairness Doctrine” that was imposed in 1949 to require broadcast permit holders to provide “both sides” of any controversial issue. Thankfully, the Reagan Administration ended the so-called “Fairness Doctrine.” Democrats have pushed for the Fairness Doctrine to be re-imposed ever since, and this was famously opposed by the late conservative talk radio legend Rush Limbaugh.

I introduced H.R. 145, the RUSH WAS RIGHT Act (Reassuring that the United States Has Wide And Scrupulous Rhetorical Insight to Garnish Honest Thought Act), to protect broadcast radio and television from being stifled based solely on ideological affiliation and prohibit the FCC from re-imposing the Fairness Doctrine.

Fighting the CCP

The Chinese Communist Party is encroaching on our privacy in many ways and has amassed a significant amount of our real estate and farmland in the past decade, including near U.S. military bases. As of 2020, CCP land ownership in the U.S. amounted to 338,000 acres (USDA), and Chinese farmland ownership in the U.S. jumped more than 20-fold from 2010 to 2021. China’s blitz to buy up domestic agricultural land is a direct threat to our national security and autonomy—this is very concerning and something I do not take lightly.

I cosponsored the Securing America’s Land from Foreign Interference Act and the Prohibition of Agricultural Land for the People’s Republic of China Act to combat this threat and prohibit foreign nationals associated with the CCP from buying up American farmland.

Legislative Action

It's been a busy start to the 118th Congress. Here is a look into ten more pieces of legislation I am cosponsoring this Congress. 

I cosponsored H.R.398, Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer’s Protecting Life and Integrity in Research Act, which would restrict any research from using human fetal tissue from an induced abortion.

I cosponsored H.R.407, Rep. Andrew Clyde’s Protect the UNBORN Act (Undo the Negligent Biden Orders Right Now) to prohibit the implementation and funding of services related to abortion specified in Joe Biden's executive orders.

I cosponsored H.R.416, Rep. Scott Franklin’s Prohibiting Abortion Industry’s Lucrative Loopholes Act, which would expand the prohibitions on the sale or purchase of human fetal tissue.

I cosponsored H.R.421, Rep. Bob Good’s Teleabortion Prevention Act of 2023, which prohibits chemical abortions from being performed without a healthcare provider physically present and without the patient receiving a prior physical examination.

I cosponsored H.R.428, Rep. Bob Latta’s Protecting the Dignity of Unborn Children Act of 2023, which would make the reckless disposal of fetal remains a criminal offense.

I cosponsored Rep. Brian Mast’s H.R.429, the No Tax Breaks for Radical Corporate Activism Act, which would prohibit businesses from being able to include any reimbursement or business expense tax deduction to employees for travel expenses to receive an abortion or the costs of any gender transition procedure.

I cosponsored Rep. Alexander Mooney’s H.R.431, the Life at Conception Act, which would provide equal protection for the right to life of born and unborn human beings under the 14th article of the Constitution, by defining the terms “human person” and “human being” to begin at fertilization.

I cosponsored Rep. Chip Roy’s H.R.434, the Service Restoration Act, which would provide certain protections for military personnel who choose not to receive the COVID-19 shot.  

I cosponsored Rep. Chip Roy’s H.R.435, the Protecting Life on College Campus Act of 2023, which would prohibit federal funds from being awarded to universities that provide abortion drugs or abortions to students or employees. 

I cosponsored Rep. William Timmons’ H.R.441, the Leak and Lose Act of 2023, which establishes fines for individuals who conceal, remove, mutilate, obliterate, or destroy any opinion or draft opinion of a case being heard by the Supreme Court.

In the District 

This week, the city of Anderson announced it will host the 2024 Conference of the International Network of Michelin Cities and will be the first city in the U.S. to host this conference. Roughly 200 people from more than two dozen countries will be in attendance. The theme of the conference will be "Drivers of Economic Development."

More than 18,000 meals were packaged for delivery to needy children and adults overseas by volunteers from Oconee County. Walhalla Presbyterian Church hosted the event in collaboration with the 25-year-old international organization, Rise Against Hunger. St. Luke United Methodist, College Street Baptist in Walhalla, Richland Presbyterian, and Walhalla High School students also participated.

This week, Governor McMaster, the South Carolina Department of Commerce, and the South Carolina Ports Authority announced that South Carolina totaled $31.5 billion in export sales in 2022. The state remains the nation's top exporter of tires and completed passenger motor vehicles, and exports from South Carolina reached 196 countries across six continents in 2022.   

It is an honor to serve the Third District of South Carolina. Should you or your family need assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact my office directly.